맨해튼 스칸디나비아 하우스에서 20세기 북유럽 국가에서 활동했던 미 흑인 예술가들의 숨겨진 이야기를 탐구하는 특별전 '노르딕 유토피아? (Nordic Utopia?)'가 11월 26일부터 내년 3월 8일까지 열린다.

 

이 전시에선 덴마크, 핀란드, 노르웨이, 스웨덴에서 활동한 화가 로널드 번스(Ronald Burns), 댄서 더그 크러치필드(Doug Crutchfield), 화가 허브 겐트리(Herb Gentry), 색소폰 연주자 덱스터 고든(Dexter Gordon), 화가 윌리엄 헨리 존슨(William Henry Johnson), 화가 하워드 스미스(Howard Smith), 그리고 화가 월터 윌리엄스(Walter Williams)의 활동을 조명한다.

 

이들은 모험심, 사랑, 교육 및 직업 기회, 자유로운 성적 취향 및 짐 크로우 차별법으로부터의 자유 등 다양한 이유로 북유럽 국가에서 공연하고, 공부하고, 살았다. 이들의 그림, 사진, 직물, 영화, 음악, 무용을 소개하는 전시다. 

 

 

 

Nordic Utopia?

 

November 26, 2024-March 8, 2025

Scandinavia House, NYC

 

New York, NY—An exhibition exploring the undertold stories of African American artists who sought new possibilities, inspiration and environments in the Nordic countries in the 20th century opens at Scandinavia House next Tuesday, November 26, 2024. Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century looks at the significance of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden as destinations for cultural figures including Ronald Burns, Doug Crutchfield, Herb Gentry, Dexter Gordon, William Henry Johnson, Howard Smith and Walter Williams through a range of artifacts, artworks (music, paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, textiles), and documentary evidence (photography, film, and journalistic writing).

 

Organized by the National Nordic Museum in Seattle by co-curators and ASF Fellows Ethelene Whitmire and Leslie Anne Anderson, it debuted there in March 2024, it debuted there March 2024 before traveling to Chazen Art Museum in Wisconsin, where it was profiled in Hyperallergic. The exhibition will now be on view at Scandinavia House through March 8, 2025.

 

During the 20th century, African Americans visited, performed, studied, and lived in the Nordic countries for a variety of reasons: a sense of adventure, love, seeking educational and occupational opportunities, freedom to explore their sexuality, freedom from Jim Crow segregation, among many other reasons. Drawing from paintings, photographs, textiles, film, music, and dance, this exhibition captures their journeys as their sense of who they were was transformed through their Nordic encounters. Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century is the first comprehensive examination of the stories of these African American visual and performing artists, and features loans from the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, College Park; SMK—the National Gallery of Denmark; and Moderna Museet in Stockholm, among other public collections. It also assembles art and artifacts from private collections, including those of the artists. 

 

The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog co-edited by curators Ethelene Whitmire and Leslie Anne Anderson as well as a range of programs including guided gallery tours, workshops, panels and films.

Nordic Utopia? has been organized by the National Nordic Museum in Seattle. Presentation at Scandinavia House has been made possible in part by the following: The Heimbold Foundation, The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, The Tova Borgnine Estate, The Birgitta Dill Estate, Arthur Zeckendorf, Dr. Daphne L. Davidson, and Daniel and Ellen Strickler.

 

Support has also been provided by the following ASF Funds: The Bonnier Family Fund for Contemporary Art, The F. Donald Kenney Fund for Visual Arts, and The Kronquist Mesaros Memorial Endowment Fund. 

 

The national tour of the exhibition has been made possible through generous support from The Terra Foundation for American Art, Laurie C. Black, Nordic Kulturfond Globus Grant, Microsoft, City of Seattle, Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, and ArtsFund Guendolen Carkeek Plestcheef Fund for Decorative and Design Arts. Additional support has been provided by the Consulate General of Denmark, Consulate General of Finland, Royal Norwegian Consulate General, and Consulate General of Sweden.  

 

Scandinavia House
58 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10016
212–779–3587
scandinaviahouse.org